Chapter Twelve: Vincent

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    A short trip from the den brought everyone to the livingroom where Gideon was offered a seat in a plush armchair while Vincent sat intimately close to Sara on a similarly plush couch.  Sitting across from them, Gideon kept a close eye on Sara. She sat perfectly still with her hands turned palm-down on her knees, showing a smitten little grin for Vincent when he squeezed up close and put an arm around her. The two shared affectionate stares briefly before Vincent turned his attention to Gideon.

    "So, Gideon, what brings you here?"

    Gideon rested his hands together in his lap, then he gave a clue to the reason behind his visit. "Tell me Dr. Walsh, have you ever heard of a man called Jarell?"

    Vincent pursed his lips in thought for a moment, then answered,"No, that name doesn't mean anything to me."

    "Perhaps you know him by another name, Bardolph," Gideon said, watching Vincent closely for any hint of deception, but all he saw was a fretful shadow cross Vincent's face at the mention of the name.

    Vincent swallowed hard as he considered whether or not to disclose the secrets of his life which were tied to Bardolph to the mysterious stranger sitting in his livingroom. He glanced quickly at Sara to find strength in what he cherished most, then he looked back at Gideon with a deep breath.

     "Are you referring to a tall, rather shady man who gives off really bad vibes?" 

     "Ah, so you do know him," Gideon confirmed wryly.

     "Bardolph is the reason I've been living here in Willoughby under a fake identity for the last two years," Vincent openly admitted with a bit of disgust.

    "Oh?" Gideon enquired.

    Vincent sighed in preparation for a revealing tale about himself. He withdrew his arm from around Sara and rubbed his hands together as he gathered his thoughts. "What do you know about the field of bio-synthetics?"

    "Absolutely nothing I'm afraid," Gideon answered.

    "That's not suprising. It's a very obscure field of work, but one that I've had a fervent passion for ever since I graduated from highschool at the age of thirteen. Five years later, after college, I was sought out by the Kenichi Corporation and was made their Director of Special Projects almost instantly.

    I took a few of their existing product designs and tweaked them a bit to make them top sellers in what is a very lucrative, but very private business. After that I was pretty much given the liberty to use  company resources for whatever I wanted, as long as I occasionally contributed something to keep the company on the cutting edge of that private business.

    A few years later I was introduced to Bardolph. He was drawn to my work in a way no one had ever been before. He was extremely curious about the possibilities of my ideas, so much so that he began to fund my research."

    Vincent shifted toward Gideon to emphasize his next statement, and he made sure his eyes locked with Gideon's.

    "When I say he funded my research, I mean he threw insane amounts of money at it, without questions or demands. No one does that, ever. I grew very suspicious of his motives and became increasingly uncomfortable about the depth of his interest in my work."

    Vincent paused as he leaned back and seemed to relax a bit. He floated a fond glance to Sara, who returned it, then he looked back at Gideon and went on.

    "You see Gideon, I toiled relentlessly and excelled in bio-synthetics, as well as cybernetics, for a singular purpose; and when I felt that Bardolph had become a threat to that purpose, a wolf in sheep's clothing if you will, I decided to take desperate measures to ensure the secrecy and completion of my life's work, which at the time was nearing completion."

    Gideon smirked at the realization Vincent was leading him to. "You faked your own death," he surmised. 

    "Exactly. With the help of a dear friend, the janitor you met, who also called me to alert me of your impending arrival, I orchestrated a catastrophic accident at the Kenichi Corporation's lab complex which left no doubts or clues to my demise. No one else was harmed, but everyone, including Bardolph, was apparently fooled. You're the first person, the only person, to discover this."

    Gideon rested his arms on the arms of the chair as he stared across at Vincent's expecting face. "Do not worry Dr. Walsh, I have no intentions of exposing your secrets. In fact, I am very good at keeping such," he assured.

    "Then why are you here? I was told you had reason to believe that I'm in danger," Vincent questioned.

    Gideon's eyes wandered to Sara with a burning curiosity. "I shall explain all to you, but first, if you will, tell me her story. I gather she is not entirely what she seems to be," he said with a sly grin.

    Sara seemed unbothered by Gideon's harmless accusation as she cocked her head slightly to ponder what he meant. "What do I seem like?" she asked him innocently. 

    "Well, you seem like a beautiful young woman, but..."

    Gideon's thoughts stumbled when he reached for what would only be a guess on his part as to what he thought she really was, and he did not want to offend. Sara waited patiently for his answer, which never came.

    Vincent smiled and he covered one of Sara's hands on her knee softly with his own, causing her to turn her head to him. The two became momentarily trapped in a deep, fond gaze that cast a loving glow around them both. Keeping his delighted stare focused on her lively brown eyes he spoke to Gideon with a passionate charge to his voice.

    "Her name is Vasara, and I would say that she is my greatest creation, my life's work; but she's so much more than that. She is my life, my love."

    Sara's smile broadened at Vincent's heartfelt claim, but Gideon's face shriveled a little under his furrowed brow as Vincent's stark revelation burrowed into him. He couldn't help but eye Sara with an amazed stare.

    "You mean to say that she is...that you...created her?" Gideon asked, finding it hard to believe that he was even asking such a thing.

    Vincent turned away from Sara with a proud expression for Gideon, one that was intended for the results of his  efforts instead of his own merit. "Extraordinary, isn't she?"

    Prompted by Vincent's remark, Sara turned toward Gideon to offer herself for display. Gideon was so overwhelmed at the reality presented to him that his mouth uncharacteristically gaped and his eyes had trouble believing what they were now supposed to, that the beautiful young woman sitting across from him wasn't human. His memory flashed back to the den, to all the intricate machine parts and blueprints. He studied her closely, to the point of almost being embarrassed for doing so, then he attempted to compose himself before directing his next thought at Vincent.

    "So, Sara is a...robot?"

    Vincent frowned disapprovingly, then said,"That is such a crude description. She is a machine of course; the most sophisticated, the most advanced, the most intricate machine ever conceived. But she is also an independent, fully self-aware, sentient being. I suppose the closest term we could use to adequately describe her would be: android."  

    "Fascinating, simply fascinating," Gideon readily conceded.

    "Thank you," Sara cheerfully chirped.

    Vincent chuckled lightly at her response to Gideon, then he submitted to the urge of an enthusiastic inventor to boast a little more about her secrets, which were his prized accomplishments.

    "I had designed and fabricated all the necessary parts and systems needed to make my dream of Sara a reality years ago, in fact, her body and neural network had been constructed and tested long before I staged my own death.

    The last variable was a power source. I needed something viable of course, but also something which could withstand the constant demands all her primary systems would require. That's where Bardolph's funding came into play. I used his money to develope an Ionic Pulse Cell that is virtually inexhaustible. She need only to recharge the cell once a month in a special vault I constructed."

    Vincent stopped when he saw that the blown away expression plastered to Gideon's face, as well as his drooping posture, indicated that he was clearly in a mesmerized state of awe. He sat back and put his arm around Sara again, then drew in a breath as he prepared to address Gideon.

    "Well, I think we've shared enough of our secrets. Now, how about that explanation you promised."

    Gideon quickly shifted in the chair, straightening his slack posture as well as his thoughts. "Yes, I suppose it is my turn now," he agreed, debating inwardly on just how much to reveal  in order to validate his story of how he discovered Vincent in the first place.

       

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